Carabao Island, Romblon: Definitely Better than Boracay

Romblon is known as the ‘Marble Capital of the Philippines’ but there are things that are yet to be discovered in this beautiful island. My mother’s family is based in Romblon but it was just lately when I realized that Romblon has a beautiful island called ‘Carabao Island’.

Carabao Island is situated in San Jose, Romblon. The nearest island from Carabao Island is Boracay, going to Carabao Island will only take you 15 minutes via pump boat. Since my family lives in Tablas Island, Romblon, we took a boat ride from Sta. Fe to Carabao Island and took us around an hour to get there. There isn’t much tourists from the Sta. Fe side so the boat has schedules that you have to catch if you’re on a tight budget. At that time, we didn’t really go there to beach bum as my cousin and her boyfriend are planning to buy land there. It was official business. Since Karla and I didn’t really have official business to do there, we had the chance to enjoy the scenery and take photographs of it of course. The 4 of us rented a pump boat that costed around Php 4000 which we rented for half a day. We left Sta. Fe around 10 am and arrived at Carabao Island around 11 am. The boat ride was very bumpy, it felt like we were riding the ‘jungle log jam’ in Enchanted Kingdom but much longer (because it was almost an hour ride). According to the boat men, that was the normal motion of the sea but when it’s late afternoon it gets much crazier.

The moment I stepped onto the sand, I was so amazed because it’s white and very fine. The sea water was green and very clear. This isn’t the commercial area where tourists usually frequent to. The area where the resorts are located near Boracay for obvious reasons. Truly this is the virgin part of Carabao Island. It was a very serene moment for me.

It’s very near the road so the locals can just go there and swim anytime they want. I didn’t see any massive transportation there like jeepneys, most residents there have their own scooters and motorcycles. According to some locals, the government is planning to open an international airport in Carabao Island. I just hope that it won’t spoil the beauty of this island.

We just had our lunch at a relative’s house. After lunch, we headed back to the boat and went back to Sta. Fe.

Definitely, I will return to Carabao Island and experience some resorts there probably. I haven’t been to Boracay yet, but a lot people have told me that this is more beautiful and breath-taking than Boracay.